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Encouraging employees to adopt a new technology within any organization can be challenging. Significant time and money is invested into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to be set up specifically to meet a company’s requirements. The CRM is a key sales tool for tracking potential and existing customers. It is crucial that data is entered accurately and in a timely manner in the CRM system. This data will be used in making key business decisions within the company.

An organization knows that in order to see the returns on their investment in a CRM system, a variety of measurements and ways to encourage and motivate the employees to use the system need to be in place. Some approaches to encourage and motivate an employee are more effective than others, but how is one supposed to choose which approach is the best.

CRMGamified has modernized an old approach by leveraging gamification mechanics and applying it to human behavior. Gamification is designed to overcome existing obstacles that prevent or hinder employees from adopting a new technology. It promotes human behaviors that will lead to increasing the quantity and quality of customer data.

Problem Statement

More than ever, companies are implementing CRM systems. The gathering of customer data can be a key deciding factor in a company’s initiatives and direction it takes in developing and selling its products. The data needs to be entered by employees who have customer facing roles accurately and in a timely manner.

Problems start when data is not being entered or it is not entered accurately. There are many reasons why a user does not enter the data. The following is a summary of some of the challenges a company has when trying to encourage an employee to adopt and use the CRM.

Data Entry

After a CRM system is implemented, data needs to be added to the system to create the reports required to facilitate decisions. If a user is asked to add data and they do not understand why this data is being entered or how it will be used to make corporate decisions, the data entry will get de-prioritized over other work that is perceived as more important.

Accuracy of the information

Data is being entered into the CRM system, but what is the quality of the data being inputted. Perhaps there is some uncertainty among the sales people as to the type of information that should be entered or the information is too general. When the time comes for a decision to be made about a customer, there may not be sufficient data to make an informed decision.

Lack of involvement of in the CRM project,

When the key users of the system are not involved in the initial stages of the CRM project, the CRM may not properly take into account the work processes in place. The CRM is supposed to facilitate work and decisions not hinder them. Certain decisions may have been made that the user may not understanding. The end result is resistance to using the CRM or feeling that the CRM creates more work for them by not incorporating their feedback into the project, a great way to get their buy in is from the start of the CRM implementation.

Regular cleanup of the data to remove redundancy

Poorly entered data could generate redundant data and create inaccuracies in the CRM reports. Data needs to be reviewed periodically to remove any redundant records. Regularly cleaning up the data ensures the quality of the data.

Training

Training is essential for the adoption of the CRM. If a user does not know how to use the CRM, the data will be entered incorrectly. Follow up training is necessary to cover any new or revised work processes. Users may feel attending the training not necessary and may want to focus their efforts on selling. This type of thinking impacts the quantity and quality of data.

There are many tactics that can be utilized to encourage and motivate employees to use a CRM system. This white paper explores the use of gamification as one tactic to motivate a user and improve the quality and quantity of data entry in a CRM system.”

The CRM Gamification Solution

The implementation of a recognition and reward system encourages and motivates employees to use the CRM system. Ultimately you want to reward and recognize desirable behaviors. Achievement and recognition are the top two motivation factors. These factors need to be in place for an employee to have satisfaction at work. The reward system can use points, badges, rankings, leaderboards, levels, missions, and real-time feedback to motivate and reward employees for their efforts.

What is Gamification

This is where the use of gamification tactics come in. Gamification is taking an activity that is perceived as dull and uninteresting and injecting some fun into it. Gamification uses game design techniques to motivate people to achieve their goals. It is about taking an application and applying game mechanics to make it engaging. It is used to reward users for their contributions.

Where to Apply Gamification in CRM

Gamification can be used to encourage behaviors that you want users to adopt. Include gamification in your sales methodology. For example, if a sales person makes a new contact, this person receives 1 point. Make a new contact in one of your target accounts, obtain 2 points. If a person makes x number of sales calls, this person receives three points.

Create some healthy competition by using a leaderboard. Post the names of sales people and their sales by highest sales first. The people with the lower sales numbers will want to catchup and even surpass the leader.

Create levels, for example Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Different rewards can be established at each level.

Why Gamification Works

Gamification works because it motivates employees to embrace CRM as a tool to facilitate their daily work. People like to play and compete in games. Gamification to CRM systems does just that. The more badges and points that a user has, this user is perceived as the guru of the CRM system. This user becomes the go-to person. Gamification creates that award system to recognize a person for their achievements

Having accurate data entered in a timely manner is crucial to a company’s CRM system. The CRM system is a key tool to facilitate decisions for customers. Without good data, effective decisions cannot be made.

Gamification is one tactic to ensuring that the necessary data is entered and is an effective means to motivate users by rewarding and encouraging specific behaviors to generate sales success.

Gamification takes advantage of human nature such as the desire to be acknowledged and rewarded for achievements. It plays on an individual’s competitive side by motivating them to try and be the best.

Hurrah! and Motivation Engine are software programs to help sales managers effectively use gamification within their companies to encourage effective data entry and the best behaviors to achieve sales success.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It is a chemical messenger originated from a nervous termination that interacts with a specific receptor to produce different physiological responses helping in the transmission of signals in the brain and other vital areas.

Dopamine is found in humans as well as animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates.

How it works?

This neurotransmitter’s main functions are promoting mental energy, improve attention, impulse control, motivation and determination. When there is a deficient production of dopamine the results are translated in fatigue, dizziness, high desires of sugar or coffee, weight gain, attention problems, decrease of sexual desire and impulse control.
A recent study done by the MIT reveals that dopamine is also the neurotransmitter responsible of motivating us in
the most difficult moments, under a promise of “reward”. This study was made in a population of rats, scientists explain this findings are applicable in the same way with humans.

The results showed that when the rat was approaching an objective or a distant prize the dopamine production increased, this can be seen with Parkinson patients where dopamine is affected and there is not enough motivation to reach objectives or long tasks.

Games and Dopamine

Dopamine Involved in learning and feelings of reward, is released in the brain’s striatum during game activities strengthening the brain cell connections underlying memory and learning, which is why games can be put to educational and therapeutic uses.

Game strategy applications have an appeal that crosses many demographic boundaries, such as age, gender, ethnicity, or educational attainment. Besides being fun and stimulating, they can be used to help set up goals and rehearse working towards them, maintain a record of behavioral change, provide reinforcement, feedback and self-esteem.

Encouraging play, creates excitement and a more lighthearted work atmosphere that in turn stimulates employees to take more creative risks.

How Gamification is helping?

The reasons why people play are very punctual. In a survey made by the CRMGamified team to relatives and coworkers, the answers where centered in these specific reasons:

Socializing: Relationships between players are stronger because entertainment can foster trust, empathy and compassion. It is a perfect way of making new friends and breaking the ice in any situation of shyness.

Stress relief: Play releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote the sense of well-being and can even relieve pain.

Revitalizing: As the famous Irish Nobel Prize winner George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

Brain challenges: Playing brain skilled games help prevent Alzheimer and improve brain functionality. Playing games with relatives, co-workers or friends help ward off depression and stress.

Creativity: The best way of learning something as children or adults is by playing. A fun task turns into an easy task immediately, stimulating imagination, and improving problem resolution.

Sports and Dopamine

Athletes are likely to have one thing in common: Higher levels of dopamine. The habit of regular workouts, push them to perform way better than in their last workout. Better known as the brain’s “reward center”, dopamine is essential for concentration, quick reaction time, focus, and what’s most important, good moods.

Food and Dopamine

A balanced diet is a very important step to improve dopamine production, the neurotransmitters are produced from amino acids and these require vitamins and minerals, so the diet must be rich in proteins such as those found in meat, fish, vegetables, beans, eggs and soy.

Work and Dopamine

To determine the consequences of stress during work we should understand the difference between positive stress and negative stress. In both cases there is an emotional condition that models working attitude and effectivity.

Positive stress enhances productivity and performance, while negative stress does completely the opposite. Knowing dopamine is produced in very high levels when a sensation of reward and recognition is present we should be aware that a negative stress will trigger the results we want to avoid.

So how can we turn negative stress into positive stress?

After all the necessary research needed to develop a successful solution, CRMGamified combined two motivation methods proven to work together or separate depending on the needs of the company.

CRM Gamified Motivation Engine Brings the excitement of a sales contest accomplishing goals and having immediate rewards through a simple game platform full of points, levels, badges, challenges under a friendly and precise colorful architecture linked to MS Dynamics CRM.

Hurrah! Shows the information registered in MS Dynamics CRM that can also be measured by CRM Gamified Motivation Engine, in a live slideshow exhibited in TV screens around the office with a rewarding experience of customizable videos, sounds, music, pictures and events recognizing the achievements of teams or individuals.

This technique links work responsibilities with an entertaining game/competition experience, activating an increased production of dopamine thus a positive physical response, showing non-detectable results of work overwhelming or burnout.

S.M.

https://crmgamified.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/d1-e1439826657788.jpg305316CRMGamified Staffhttps://crmgamified.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/logo.svgCRMGamified Staff2015-08-18 12:09:522016-03-09 16:52:15Dopamine: How Gamification helps its production making us healthier?

About Us

Founded in 2011, and having presence in the US, Canada and Latin America, CRMGamified® provides modern technology to help companies improve sales and service performance by leveraging gamification.

We offer a metrics-driven approach and CRM add-ons to promote behaviors that lead to substantial revenue growth, increased employee engagement, and improved productivity of outbound teams across the globe.